This Week on the Hill: Lawmakers Press to Resolve Government Shutdown

With both sides still far apart in talks to end the partial shutdown, House Democrats disclosed the next phase of their funding strategy as they look to put pressure on GOP lawmakers to reopen shuttered parts of the federal government. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced on Saturday that the House will vote on individual government funding bills this week, starting with the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations bill, which funds the Treasury Department, Executive Office of the President, and an assortment of independent agencies. Other spending bills that Democrats will consider this week would reopen the Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); the Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and the departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. While the strategy may attract some House GOP support, it’s doubtful whether Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will allow a vote on any of these bills absent support from President Trump.

Lawmakers are set to resume legislative business on Tuesday. On the floor, House Democrats have queued up their first wave of suspension bills for the 116th Congress, including a bill that would extend both the Medicaid Money Follows the Person rebalancing demonstration and protections for Medicaid recipients of home and community-based services against spousal impoverishment. In the upper chamber, Senators will begin consideration of a bill (S.1) that would impose sanctions on Syria.